Hi guys. I have a 2000 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo with the 4.7 V8. I have noticed that when the vehicle is first started in the mornings that I can hear a sorta "ticking" sound from the engine. Any ideas? It seems to go away as I start driving.

It goes away as the engine warms up. Does this still sound like a bearing? If so, how to replace it and how much? thank you!

When mine was on its way out, it was constant, but it could be possible for it to go away when it warms up. You should be able to pin point it by listening to it.

Easy enough to replace, only one bolt, I think a 10mm, can't remember off the top of my head. A tensioner here was around £50GBP. I have heard of someone removing the dust cover and greasing it, but I'm not sure how successful it was long term.

Is this a high mileage engine? A lot of high mileage 4.7s develop the "startup tick". The hydraulic lash adjusters either get gummed up or start showing signs of wear and lose their prime when sitting for a while. This is why the tick goes away after warmup.Try running some Seafoam in your oil 500 mi. before an oil change.If its a varnish problem this will take care of it after a few oil changes. If not it's probably wear and new valve lash adjusters are pretty costly especially on an engine where you don't know the condition of the bottom end. I had a Durango where this started at 80k mi and I ran it to 110k before trading with no ill effects other than a little embarrassment now and then.As Aaron said though check those idler pulleys first cause mine were all but worn out at 50k.

I also go for the valve lash adjusters, especially when the noise disappears after warming up. As long as the noise disappears, i would not worry about it too much.Regarding the belt tensioner, that was me who removed the dust covers of the pulley bearings, cleaned the bearing with some cleaner, greased it up again and put the dust caps on again. Still running great (for approx 50k Km). But ofcourse this all depends on the state of the bearings (how long they already ran without grease and if the dust covers are not damaged).

It does have a lot of miles- 243,000. It does only do it on start up on a cold engine- usually just in the morning for the first time. After it sits during work it may or may not do it, but if it does- it lasts only a fraction of the time it lasts in the morning after sitting overnight. Do you think seafoam in the oil will help?

Seafoam or Marvel mystery oil in the oil may help. It quieted mine, but not totally gone. The best thing is regular oil changes and using 5w-30 synthetic oil, a slightly thinner oil would in theory flow better and quiet those lifters faster on startup. Just my 2 cents.

Seafoam or Marvel mystery oil in the oil may help. It quieted mine, but not totally gone. The best thing is regular oil changes and using 5w-30 synthetic oil, a slightly thinner oil would in theory flow better and quiet those lifters faster on startup. Just my 2 cents.

Okay. Please tell me the exact bend, brand, weight, etc of oil you use. Also please tell me what kind of additive you use, how well it helped, and how long it took to help. Thanks.

I would not recommend to use a thinner oil then the 5W30 on a high milage engine. This because the grade of oil is choosen in such a way to create a certain oil pressure in the oil system. A thicker oil increases the pressure ( and its the pressure we need in the bearings to seaparate the metal parts), but slows the flow and a thinner oil decreases the presure and increases the flow. On a cold engine we need a thin oil, to have the oil rapidly at all the lubricating points (most of the wear occurs at startup when there is no oil pressure at the bearings to separate the 2 metal parts) , but if the oil would have this same viscosity at operating temperature, the oil pressure would become too low and metal to metal contact could occur in high loaded bearings. For this reason they made the multi viscosity oils, relatively thin when cold and thick enough at operating temperatures. ( i think i got away from the question a bit)But on older engines, the clearances are bigger due to wear, so the oil pressure already becomes lower then originally planned for. On newer engines you could choose a 0W30 or 0W40, which are thin as a grade 0 when cold and as a 30 or 40 when hot, but i´m not sure if this is a good choise for an older engine, with probably a lower oil pressure. You get the oil sooner at the bearings, but would take the risk that the pressure would not be high enough and could cause metal to metal contact, so increasing wear on the bearings.

I didn't mean to recommend a thinner oil than 5w-30, I run 5w-30 exclusively. Any name brand synthetic would work, Valvoline, Mobil1, Amsoil, Royal Purple, Castrol, etc. If running seafoam to clean out the engine, I would recommend doing it within 500 mi. or less of an oil change, since there is a potential for it to loosen some sludge into the oil. Seafoam also thins the oil, so it shouldn't be in there too long. Other than that I haven't had any significant luck with additives to quiet the ticking.